MADONNA AND CHILD
Virginia Konchan
Duccio, 1300
The painting was a sustained act
of witness, occurring within a
memory no wider than the fist.
The subject no longer exists,
or is no longer subject, the artist
who rendered her, using,
I don’t know, another picture?
for inspiration. God as child terrifies:
ideas are things. And things don’t fare
much better. Just yesterday,
the baby opened an eye. Where are we?
he wanted to know. Where are we,
Mary repeated, incredulous.
My God, he has no idea.